This week saw the release of “Transcedence,” a science-fiction thriller directed by Wally Pfister (the longtime director of photographer for Christopher Nolan) about a man whose mind is uploaded into a computer resulting in, predictably, all hell breaking loose. The movie isn’t earning rave reviews, but it does have a noteworthy premise: What happens when you try to replicate a human being inside a computer? It’s the sort of big-idea premise that Nolan himself would try to tackle, similar to his movie “Inception” and also this week’s Weekend Streamer…

Trying to explain “Memento” is a difficult task, as its story involves two plot lines that intersect but move in opposite directions in relation to time. Both storylines center on Leonard (Guy Pearce), who suffers from short-term memory loss after suffering a head injury during a break-in in which two men attacked him and his wife. Leonard thinks he killed the man who raped and murdered his wife, but the other man escaped, and Leonard is trying to track him down. Obviously that’s made more complicated by the fact that he can’t form any permanent memories from after the attack, but Leonard uses an elaborate system of notes, Polaroid photographs and tattoos on his body to remember key facts.

The movies twin storylines are differentiated by use of different film stocks. The sequences in black and white begin at an unspecified point in the past with Leonard talking on the phone to an anonymous caller. These scenes move forward in regular chronological order, but most of the movie’s scenes are in color and progress backward; that is, the action takes place chronologically, but each color sequence begins before the one that was shown previously and ends where the prior scene began. In essence, the movie skips its way backward in color while progressing normally in black and white.

If that sounds like a lot to wrap your head around, it is; however, Nolan uses visual clues, narration and skillful editing to always make sure that if you’re paying attention, you know what’s going on and when.

As with any movie about memory and identity, one of the key themes of “Memento” is how characters and situations can change radically when you don’t have the necessary context and information to determine what’s “really” going on. As the movie progresses (or rather, regresses), key figures in Leonard’s life are totally transformed as we learn things about them that Leonard can’t or doesn’t know. The time-skipping screenplay gives Nolan and his cast lots of ways with which to generate tension by creating situations in which Leonard’s memory, or lack thereof, gets him in trouble. There are several killings, for instance, and the motives for them start out relatively clear but gradually become much more fuzzy. Furthermore, in the black and white scenes Leonard tells the caller the story of Sammy Jankis, a man who claimed he had a condition similar to Leonard’s. Jankis’ wife didn’t believe him, and she tested him by repeatedly telling him to give her insulin shots for her diabetes when she didn’t need them. Obviously Leonard wouldn’t be telling this story if it weren’t important in some way.

While the novel storytelling techniques and murder mysteries get you hooked, what really makes “Memento” work is the cast. Nolan has long specialized in movie’s about men driven by obsession and revenge (including his three Batman movies), but Guy Pearce’s Leonard may be his ultimate creation. This is a man who can’t even remember key facts about his obsessive quest without a notebook but is so monomaniacal and confident in his own abilities that he’s willing to kill based on his own faulty memory anyway. For example, Leonard is assured that he can keep track of his case and his life because of his skills as a former insurance investigator; however, at several points Leonard’s skills prove to not be enough to prevent him from being manipulated due to his condition. But Leonard doesn’t know he’s manipulated, and he keeps right on going with his confident routine. It’s a masterful performance from Pearce, who the compulsive nature of Leonard while also showing how his illness makes even routine activities into a challenge.

The other key players are Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie, a bartender, and Joe Pantoliano as Teddy, an undercover police officer. Both Natalie and Teddy undergo startling character changes as we work backwards through the story, and its to Moss and Pantoliano’s credit that they keep up every step of the way. Pantoliano, in particular, has a tricky task as Teddy, and when the full scope of the story emerges, his character is a marvel to behold.

Movies with stories that aren’t told chronologically are hardly new, and they’ve seen a resurgence since Quentin Tarantino reintroduced the world to the trick in “Pulp Fiction.” While many movies since “Pulp Fiction” have used fragmented narratives as a gimmick, in “Memento” Christopher Nolan used it to give us a mesmerizing take on memory, identity and obsession.

“Memento” is available on Netflix and for rent on Amazon Instant Video.

About This Blog

Rob Ryan joined The Gainesville Sun in 2010 after graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Though he graduated with a degree in journalism, he also studied film and is a longtime cinephile. Rob now spends his days soaking up all things cinema and his nights on the copy desk. His favorite movies are the original Star Wars trilogy.